"I grew
up in the forests of southern Indiana. Living seven miles from the nearest one stop-light town of 2000 people,
left very little to do except spend time in the great outdoors. I developed a love of nature and a great respect
for the creatures I encountered. My brother Alan and I would spend day after day in the woods, mushroom
hunting, digging ginseng, fishing, or whatever else we could think of to do outside. I believe this is where my love
of nature began. I have always had a respect for God's creatures that I am now able to transfer to the work I do.
After high school I enlisted in the United
States Army. I spent 8 years in the Army serving with great units like the 1st Ranger Battalion, the 101st Pathfinder
Detatchment, and the 82nd Airborne Division's Long Range Reconnaisance Detatchment. Most of my time spent
in these units was spent out in the field. The outdoors is where I felt most comfortable and these units allowed
me to stay outside surrounded by mother nature. In 1999, I got out of the Army and we moved back to our home town here
in Orange County.
In 1993 I married my high school sweetheart
Christi. We have now been married 11 years and have two awesome little boys. Hunter Alan was born in 2000 and
Gavin Daniel was born in 2002. The boys like to go out in the shop and look at the various animals I am working
on and I hope they can learn something about nature in the process.
I was recently introduced to a local
taxidermist by my friend Matthew. The taxidermist is named Ronnie Prince. He invited me out to his shop to see
how things were done. I brought a nice 8-point buck, that I had taken early in bow season, and he walked me through
the entire process and now I have this magnificent creature on the wall of my shop. Ronnie made the whole process
seem pretty simple which gave me the confidence to start my own shop. I thank him for sharing his knowledge and for
his hospitality and patience."
